IAO,
the three-lettered Greek name of the Qabbalistic Deity,
remains one among many symbolic synonyms of Solomon's Seal,
because the letters of the acronym, which stands for the occult trinity of
Isis, Aphophis, Osiris, must be interpreted, in Kabbalistic
fashion, not only verbally but also symbolically as ideas
emblematized, so to speak, such that, as the following quotes
by noteworthy Qabalists and Freemasons inform us,
the 'I' symbolizes the male principle,
or phallus, whereas the 'O' represents the female principle,
or yoni (i.e., vagina)--just as, in the Seal of Solomon, the
downward pointing triangle, the so called "water triangle",
represents the female principle, whereas the upward pointing
fire triangle represents the male principle. Here following
are various quotes, the sum total of which, clearly point to
the similitude in meaning between IAO and Solomon's Seal,
both numerologically, as the number of the Sun, 666, as well
as conceptually, as representing what
is arguably the definitive dogma of occult dualism; namely,
the belief that both good and evil are part and parcel of the
god-head, as icongraphically portrayed, for example,
in Judaic-Kabbalist
and Judaic-Masonic myticism
as the hexagram or
the dot-in-the-circle.

In the dot-in-the-circle ideograph,
the 'O' in IAO is the circle,
the 'I' in IAO is the dot, and the 'A' might be construed as the
dot it the retina of the All-seeing Eye that's produced by the union
of the two. That said, the quotes
that follow make much of this clear and are included without further
comment:

I,A,O, the three-lettered Greek name of Deity, 632-1, Morals
and Dogma, Albert Pike

"IAO (iota, alpha, omega) was the Greek form of the
Tetragrammaton, IHVH (Yod-He-Vau-He, or Jehova, the 'Bringer
of light'), the Hebrew divine name for God. Although a
reference to Jahova (or Yahweh), IAO was also widely
associated with both Hermes and Bacchus (Iacchus),
especially in ancient magical texts and amulets.
(Thelemepedia the Encyclopedia of Thelema & Magick IOA.mht)

"IAO is the formula of magick....'I' represents the monad or
the phallus. Its actions do not produce change within but
only 'out of itself.' 'O' represents the yoni or the female,
which changes through addition, subtraction or
multiplication. It represents matter that is capable of
taking on form. The union of the 'I' and the 'O' would
create the triad, or the world formed by the two creative
principles of of matter. 'A' would then represent the
conjunction between these two principles." (Thelemepedia the
Encyclopedia of Thelema & Magick IOA.mht)

"...the principal and most characteristic formula for
Osiris, of the Redemption of Mankind. 'I' is Isis, Nature,
ruined by 'A', Apophis the Destroyer, and restored to life
by the Redeemer Osiris." -- Magick, Aleister Crowley, 1997,
chap. 5)

"In the heart of the Master, the pelican is attributed to
the formula IAO: I A O : all that liveth is blood of the
Heart of the Master; all stars are at Feast on that Pasture,
abiding in Light." (www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Pelican)

"This name I.A.O. is qabalistically identical with that of
THE BEAST and with his number 666, so that he who invokes
the former also invokes the latter." Aliester Crowley,
Magick in Theory and Practice, Chapter I
http://www.sacred-text/oto/aba/chap1.htm

"Siva is the Babylonian Bel, identical with the Sun-god I A
O, and as represented by Lithoi or Pillars." A New
Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, page 405, A.E. Waite

"...I.A.O. as a magick formula it should be remarked is that
it is essencially the formula of Yoga or medita- tion; in
fact, of elementary mysticism in all its branches." --
http://www.sacred-texts/oto/aba/chap5.htm

"The letter 'I', or rather the
erect - upstanding pillar- creative, denoting the wisdom and
strength that stands alone and is self-existing. The letter
'A', is a pyramid or mountain of strength. The 'O' is the
serpent with its tail in its mouth", i.e., "the Alpha and
Omega."
(Clymer, "The Mysteries of Osiris or Ancient
Egptian Initiation", p. 137)

IAO is a Notariqon of the Qabbalistic God Name of Tiphareth,
the Sun, and it is the Gnosteic Tetragrammaton. (as noted in
Aleister Crowley's LIBER XXV, THE STAR RUBY, with notes by
David Cherubim)

"It just strikes me--it may be this Isis-Apophis-Osiris IAO
formula that I have preached so often." -- Freemason black
witch Aleister Crowley, as quoted by Friend, page 240, in
"Fallen Angel: The Untold Story of Led Zepplin and Jimmy
Page".

"Now shalt thou adore me who am the Eye and the Tooth, the
Goat of the Spirit, the Lord of Creation. I am the eye in
the Triangle, the Silver Star that ye adore" -- Black witch
Freemason Aleister Crowley, Liber A'ash, quoted by secondary
source, "Fallen Angel: The Untold Story of Jimmy Page and
Led Zeppelin Based On the Stairway to Heaven Album"

"This formula is the principal characteristic of Osiris, of
the Redemption of Mankind. 'I' is Isis, Nature, ruined by
'A', Apophis the Destroyer, and restored to life by the Re-
deemer Osiris." -- Freemason and black witch Kabbalist,
Aleister Crowley, the self-professed "666-Beast" & father
of modern Satanism, as quoted in CHAPTER V The Formula of
I.A.O. Aba Liber.

[Above, downloaded from the Scarlet Woman OTO website in TX,
Houston, the graphic above shows the layout of the worship
area; note the IAO signification to the right.]

"A, the heart of IAO, dwelleth in ecstasy in the secret place of the
thunders. Between Asar and Asi he abideth in joy." (Kenneth Grant,
The Nightside of Eden, pp. 155-156)

"The letter 'A' in the formula IAO is identical with Apophis and is
the field of operation in which the magical energies of the I and O
(the phallus and the kteis) polarise and perform their creative
function." (Kenneth Grant, The Nightside of Eden, page
161)

"Had is the heart Girt with the Serpent (Set) that pulses with the
ophidian vibrations swirling in the Cup of Babalon."
(Kenneth Grant, The Nightside of Eden, page 200)

In the glossary of Kenneth Grant's "Cults of the Shadow", we
read: Iao (Gn.): "The Gnostic designation of Supreme Deity.
Also a magical formula wherein the phallus (I) and the kteis (O)
unite under the form of the Fire Snake (A), Aphophis, the
Ophidian vibration which, if undirected or misdirected, is a
destroying demon, but which, if controlled and exalted, is man's
means of release from the thraldom of individual consciousness."
(Kenneth Grant, Cults of the Shadow, page 117)

"This was the formula IAO. I (Isis) which represents the body
which has to undergo death (the 'A' or Apophis stage), before it
can achieve the 'eternal' state of O (Osiris), the mummy stage.

The deitites
Isis, Osiris, Horus, relate to two different dimensions and care
must be taken to keep symbolism ofm the planes distinct. Isis,
being matter or nature, represents Time; Osiris, the mummy,
represents Eternity (i.e., Timelessness). But Isis (as Nuit) also
represents Space, and Osiris (as mummy) represents Duration. It
is the identity of space-time, or its realization, that generates
the consciousness that illumines the 'universe', and shows it to
be phenoumenal--a mere appearance of the consciousness--because
then there is no subject in relation to which any object can
exist. This mystical interpretation is analogous to that of Cha'an
Buddhism wherein mountains and streams are first seen as objective
facts; then not seen at all, then seen again as mountains and
streams; not as such in themselves, but as appearances in
consciousness. In the blank interim an initiation has occured,
analogous to that which occurs in the Apophis state of the Egyptian
formula of IAO. It is this void, or blankness, that must be
illuminated before the New Isis, the Daughter, the newly created
and ever virgin vision of non-objectivity may be apprehended.
This is that into which the formula of Set-Horus ultimately
resolves itself."
(Kenneth Grant, Cults of the Shadow, pages 159-160)

"There is quite different formula in which I is the Father,
O is the mother, A the child -- and yet another, in which
I.A.O. are all fathers of different kinds balanced by H. H. H.,
3 Mothers, to complete the Universe. In a third, the true
formula of the Beast 666, I and O are the opposites which
form the field for the operation of A. But this is a higher
matter unsuited for this elementary handbook." (Aleister
Crowley, Magick In Theory and Practice, page 28)

"There is an etymological identity between Tetragrammaton and
I A O..." (Aleister Crowley, Magick In Theory and Practice,
page 30)

"Jews even adopted the Pagan Mysteries. In Babylon they practised
the Mysteries of Tammuz, the Babylonian Osiris-Dionysus. In the
Old Testament, the Prophet Ezekial describes Jewish women ritually
mourning the death of Tammuz at the north gate of the Jerusalem
Temple itself. According to St. Jerome, there was a shaded grove
sacred to Adonis, the Syrian Osiris-Dionysus, in Bethlehem....
In Asia Minor Jews equated their god Jehovah with Sabazius, the
Phrygian Osiris-Dionysus. We are even told that Jews were expelled
from Rome in 139 BCE for trying to introduce the Mysteries of
Sabazius into the city. The god of he Jews became known as 'Iao,'
which is an ancient Mystery name of Dionysus. A coin has been found at an
archaelogical site less than 40 miles from Jerusalem that depicts Jehovah
as the founder of the Mysteries of Eleusis. Indeed, it is a shocking fact
that many ancient authors, including Plutarch, Diodorus, Cornelius Labo,
Johannes Lydus, and Tacitus, repeatedly identify the god of the Jews with
Dionysus." (Freke, The
Jesus Mysteries, page 178-179)